How The Giver Really Ended
by CCR2016
Summary: Have you ever wondered what happened as Jonas was sledding down the hill with Gabe? Did you ever wonder if they survived their journey? This is my version of what happened at the end of 'The Giver'. I do not own the story or any of the characters in it. If I had written The Giver, it would be nowhere near as wonderful as it is.


Jonas blinked and the town and its lights were gone. The music remained. As they neared the end of the ride, Gabe became too heavy for him to hold. The strength in Jonas seemed to be gone, and before he could try and keep his grip, Gabe fell off the sled.

"Gabe!" Jonas screamed.

He looked to his right just in time to see Gabe's body rolling past him. A few seconds later, the sled came to the end of the snowy hill. Jonas jumped off and ran as fast as he could to Gabriel's prone form. From what Jonas could see, Gabe wasn't breathing. As he got closer, he could see the extent of the damage to the newchild.

On his tumble down the hill, Gabe had hit his head several times. When Jonas rolled the toddler over, he could both see and feel the blood on his head. Looking down, he realized the Gabe's legs were at odd angles. Jonas had experienced broken legs in the memories and knew that the newchild had sustained two. Jonas wiped away the blood on his face and saw that Gabe's lips were blue. His body was cold. There wasn't any breath going into or out of his body. After endless days of travel, a long bout of starvation, and his fall, Gabe's body couldn't take it anymore. Gabriel, the newchild that Jonas had cared for and loved, was dead.

Pain that Jonas had never felt before surged through his body. Gabe _couldn't_ be dead. All that Jonas had done was try to protect him. Now that it had failed, everything had gone to waste. Jonas's heart broke for the small child, but mostly, his heart broke for himself. Gabe was the driving force behind everything. He had forced Jonas to keep going, especially when Jonas had wanted to lie down and quit. Now that the force was gone, there was nothing keeping Jonas from stopping. He was done. He was starving, cold, and exhausted. As the tears froze on his cheeks, Jonas knew what he had to do.

He took off his tunic and wrapped it around the small body. It didn't really matter that Gabe couldn't feel its warmth; it still felt right to do. Jonas sat down on the ground and stroked the newchild's dirty, matted hair. As his eyes started to close, Jonas felt nothing. The strong emotions before had left him drained. He let his body fall back into the snow. Right before his eyes closed, he curled around Gabe's body, shielding him from the harsh cold. Finally, his eyes closed and Jonas fell into a deep sleep.

It happened slowly. Jonas became aware in his sleep that he was fading. In his dream-he wasn't really sure that it was- he saw himself holding Gabe's body. For some reason, he saw a blue light around himself, but not Gabriel. As he looked closer, he saw that the light wasn't very strong. It was flickering, and then Jonas knew. He was reminded of an old memory that the Giver had given him, the one where the light had left the soldier's eyes. That must be what was happening here. That must be why Gabe didn't have a light around him. The newchild was dead. Jonas, at the moment, was not. He knew that it wouldn't be much longer until he, too, wouldn't have a light either.

Silently, he watched as the blue light got weaker and weaker. He watched as his body went limp and still managed to hold onto Gabe. Then the light went away. Jonas couldn't help but think that nothing had really changed. He was still there. There was no Elsewhere. The only difference that Jonas noticed was that he wasn't cold or hungry anymore. That was good, he supposed. The haze that had previously been compromising his vision was gone. As he looked around, he noticed that the "sled" they had been on was an old piece of wood. He noticed that there was no town or lights. Thinking about it now, he thought that it had been some of the other memories coming to the surface. _Hallucinating_, Jonas thought, _I was hallucinating. _

Just the thought of it crushed him. Had everything else been a hallucination? The escape hadn't been he was sure of that. The long walk hadn't been. What about the planes? Had they just been part of the old memories too? Where had the snow come from anyway? How had he gotten here? So many questions, but no answers.

Jonas felt lightweight suddenly. Looking down, he saw that he wasn't on the ground. He was _floating._ Then a bird flew through him. Not over, or under, but _through_ him. No previous memories told him what to do when that happened. All he knew was that he was breaking the laws of gravity. Before he could come to terms with that, he felt warmth and saw golden rays of light. Looking next to him, he saw a figure coming closer. It looked like a girl's figure. Who was it? It wasn't someone he recognized.

The girl stepped farther into the light, and finally Jonas could see her face. He still didn't know who she was. Although, as he peered at her, he did almost know who this person was. She had something in her arms. Looking closer, he saw that the thing was squirming around. It was a small child. The child froze and turned around to look at him. Gabe. The newchild seemed to recognize him, and struggled in the girl's arms. She put him down, and the child ran at Jonas.

Gabe was looking so much better than before. Blood wasn't on his face anymore, and he had new clothes on. He didn't look starved anymore. His cheeks were rosy again, and his hair was clean. The young child was giggling and had more energy. In fact, he was running all over the place. Jealously, Jonas saw that Gabe didn't seem to be having a problem with not being on the ground. Gabe ran in circles around Jonas's legs.

The girl smiled, and then Jonas thought of her name. The Giver had mentioned her a few times, and had once shown him a memory of her, the beautiful girl who had taken her own life ten years before.

He said it, just to make sure. "Rosemary?"

She looked at him and nodded. "And you're Jonas. I've been watching you. You've done more than I ever could."

Jonas was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I applied for release. You didn't."

"I couldn't. It was in my rules."

She smiled sadly. "Would you have ever applied for release if it wasn't in your rules?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

That froze Jonas where he was. What was that supposed to mean? Why would she ask that? Why would he have applied for release? He searched for an answer. It was silent for a few seconds while he thought. Finally, he thought of a reason.

"I wanted to fulfill my purpose," he said.

"That's not a reason. Here are my thoughts. Remember when Father told you about me? Remember when you suggested that I wasn't brave enough? Father disagreed with you, but you were right. I couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle the pain of the memories. At first, it was great. There were so many joyful memories. But then I got my first bad memory. That shocked me. Loneliness wasn't something that anybody in the community had ever experienced. To think that I was the only one besides Father to receive it, bothered me. I thought about it that night, and for weeks afterward when I received memories that were far worse. After I received a particularly horrible memory-a town that had burned itself down in their own terror-I made my decision. I kissed Father's cheek and left. I went and applied for release. I knew about it, and thought that it was the right decision. When they walked into the room and drew up the medicine, I told them that I wanted to do it myself. It would make it real. I was going to be the one to end it. The pain had become way too much, and I just couldn't deal with it anymore. There was no way out except for that. I couldn't put in an appeal; I already knew too much about everything. The only way out was release. It hurt. Possibly one of the worst pains I had ever felt. For a second, I thought about Father. He would miss me, I was sure of that. I miss him a lot. But I don't regret my decision. Life is so much better now. I can do what I want, when I want. There are no rules to hold me down, and I don't have to bear the weight of memories. It's my own world. And you are a part of that now."

She smiled gently at him. "You were stronger than me, Jonas. You had more courage than me, especially when you tried to save the newchild. Gabe, right?"

Gabe, at the moment was clinging onto Jonas's leg. He looked up when his name was mentioned and smiled happily. Jonas looked down at the newchild. It had been worth it, he decided. All anybody could ever do was try, and he had done just that. He hadn't really failed, in a sense, because they had gotten out of the community. Maybe now he could find some peace away from all of the memories.

"Are you ready?"

Jonas nodded. He was. Rosemary picked up Gabe, and held him in her left arm. She grabbed Jonas's hand. They looked at the light and Jonas felt nervous. What was truly beyond the initial light? There was only one way to find out. He took a step forward, and Rosemary smiled encouragingly. They both made their way towards the light and finally stepped into it. It got warmer and brighter and then they disappeared.


End file.
